Iraq's Mahdi Army Forces Hold Rally in Sadr City

Thousands of Mahdi Army fighters loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr took part in a show of force in Sadr city on Saturday. WSJ's Matt Bradley reports from Baghdad.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... I ... I ... the show later staged a massive show of force across Iraq on Saturday ... many of the fighters here insiders city were answering calls from religious clerics and politicians to rally to defend Iraq from Sunni militants ... who seized huge tracts of the country ... nearly two weeks ago ... the ... the the the volunteers were little Britain teeny it's their weapons were they were broken and there are matching reforms were all bought in stores ... but Saturday's rally was more about appearances ... with these young men walk in training and weaponry ... the make up for in passion and sheer force of numbers ... they're hoping that would be enough ... to face up to an army of thousands of extremist militants with Santa rocks Ustream military ... running for the deal ... time ... is it ... whether they succeeded not ... want to answer ... Iraq is quickly returning to the days of sectarian civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people ... and nearly tore the country for ... years ... this is not reading ... reporting from Baghdad ... the Wall Street ...